Neural injury, such spinal cord injury (SCI) is typically associated with major trauma from, e.g., motor vehicle accidents, falls, sports injuries, and violence, leading to contusion, compression, stretch, and/or laceration of the nervous system. Neural injury is not only the result of the initial trauma, but also a consequence of the cascade of cellular and molecular events occurring after the injury (Hall and Springer, NeuroRX. 2004: 1: 80-100). These post-injury events are referred to as the “secondary injury,” which is a major determinant of final lesion extension and functional outcome.
Many preclinical studies and clinical trials for SCI aim at alleviating such secondary injury in order to decrease the effects of certain cellular and molecular events and prevent loss of neurological function (Cardotte et al., Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. 2011: 469: 732-741). There remains a need to develop new approaches for treating neural injury and alleviating symptoms associated with neural injury.